1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions, methods and apparatus for reducing levels of reactive oxygen species in the body.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been shown that animals on long-term well nourished, low calorie diets tend to live longer than those on other diets. They have a lower metabolism rate than control animals on normal diets, and with fewer chemical combinations taking place at the sites of energy production in the cells (the mitochondria), their blood sugar levels are lower and there are fewer combinations with proteins to produce plaque. Also, there are fewer byproducts of incomplete oxidation, including reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen atoms and hydroxyl radicals.
These reactive oxygen species, including free radicals, can combine chemically with organic molecules they contact (in some cases setting off deleterious chains of free radicals), thereby reducing cell functionality throughout the body and brain, and mutating nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. For the animals on such low calorie diets, it is surmised that energy production efficiency and brain function decline more slowly with age, less cell damage occurs, fewer mutations accumulate in the cells, and less plaque is formed in the arteries and throughout the body. This may be attributable to the lower levels of reactive oxygen species yielding slower formation of plaque.
One possible approach to lowering the levels of reactive oxygen species is to provide levels in the body of compounds which scavenge the reactive oxygen species, that is, which react with and neutralize the reactive species before the reactive species undergo reactions with compounds in the body. However, this approach generally requires the ingestion of scavenging compounds. It may be difficult to achieve and maintain adequate levels of compounds by ingestion. Moreover, some compounds useful as scavengers may not be suitable for ingestion.
Based on my reading of the art, what is needed is an improved method of delivering compounds to the body to lower the concentration of reactive oxygen species.